A Giant Kauri Milestone

The Kauri 2000 Trust is
celebrating the achievement of having planted 40,000 kauri
on the Coromandel Peninsula since 1999. The trust’s
founder, Cliff Heraud, says that the success of the trust
has gone far beyond what he ever imagined. “My dream in
1999 was to plant 2000 trees as a living commemoration to
greet the new millennium. To have reached this milestone of
getting 40,000 kauri in the ground, forming new kauri
forests on the peninsula, is wonderful.”

The trust’s
chair, Alison Henry, says: “The trustees, past and
present, are to be congratulated for the professional manner
in which the trust was set up and continues to operate.
It’s a significant commitment -every year the trust
selects and prepares planting sites, orders the kauri
seedlings, and ensures the trees we have planted in previous
years are well-maintained. Most of our planting is done on
public land administered by the Department of Conservation,
with whom the trust has a signed Memorandum of Agreement, or
on council reserves.

Mrs Henry also recognises the
support Kauri 2000 enjoys from people from all walks of life
and throughout New Zealand, from hard-working and willing
volunteers to supporters who generously donate funds to
support the trust’s work. “Particularly special thanks
are due to our long term benefactors Gayle and Charlie
Pancerzewski. Their support has been a critical factor in
reaching our 40,000th of our keystone sponsor BNZ
Markets,” she says. “Every year the BNZ team heads into
the hills with spades in hand and all these relationships
have become very strong over the years.”

Students from
Mercury Bay Area School, Coromandel Area School, Paeroa’s
Miller Avenue School, Tairua School and local language
schools are also planting their own kauri forests for the
future. "It is truly heartening to be part of this community
of kauri lovers who support what the trust is doing in so
many different ways,” Mrs Henry says.

The trust has
taken a leading role in establishing the Coromandel Kauri
Dieback Forum, a network of local organisations and
concerned individuals who will work in a practical way to
protect kauri in their own communities, complementing the
reach and resources of the national Kauri Dieback Management
Programme. The inaugural meetings of the forum are being
held on 30 and 31 August in Whangamata, Thames, Coromandel
Town and Whitianga.

The Kauri 2000 trustees are proud to
have reached the 40,000 milestone. “To have 40,000 young
kauri growing on our peninsula deserves a celebration,”
Mrs Henry says. On 20 August the trustees will be joined by
trust founder Cliff Heraud, patron Dame Cath Tizard,
Associate Minister for Conservation Nicky Wagner and a
number of supporters and volunteers for a ceremonial
planting of young kauri trees in Coromandel town near one of
Kauri 2000’s largest planting sites. The trust now has a
new milestone of 50,000 kauri in its
sights.

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